


Kataang Week 2018: Councilwoman Katara

by TheBakingQueen



Series: Kataang Week 2018 [5]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kataang Week, Kataang Week 2018, One Word Prompts, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:35:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28329090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBakingQueen/pseuds/TheBakingQueen
Summary: 10 years since Sozin's Comet, 10 years of being endgame, 10 days of prompts, 1 Anniversary: July 19th. Kataang Week 2018 Prompt 5: Councilwoman Katara. Katara attempts to put a ban on bloodbending.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Series: Kataang Week 2018 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059983
Kudos: 8





	Kataang Week 2018: Councilwoman Katara

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Halfway through at Day 5: Councilwoman Katara. For the timeline, in Korra's flashback, when Aang is 40, the prosecutor says bloodbending has been outlawed for 'decades' so I figure Katara is around 22 and Aang is 20. The rest of the timeline is the same as the 10th Anniversary timeline so Bumi is around 2 at the moment. Again, not canon but I like it better, so we're going with it.
> 
> Also, according to Google Translate, Yuanhen literally means resentment or grudge which makes sense because, well, you get the idea.
> 
> Disclaimer: A:TLA is not mine.
> 
> ON WITH THE STORY!

Katara took a deep breath as she went on the Air Temple Island Ferry with her husband. Today, she was supposed to go in front of the United Republic Council to convince them to put a ban on bloodbending.

Katara shivered as she thought about how she learned the ruthless, dark twist to waterbending. To this day, it haunted her that she had manipulated someone's _body,_ their own _flesh and blood_ , to her will, even if there was no other way to stop them.

"Katara?"

She snapped out of her reverie.

"Sorry, Sweetie. Just went into a daze for a bit."

Aang looked at her with concern and tilted her chin to meet his eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, "you're going to do great. The council is going to listen to you and then we'll go home and cuddle for the rest of the day. Hmm? How's that sound."

The Avatar pulled his wife into a gentle but comforting embrace in an attempt to soothe her fears.

Katara sighed and relaxed slightly at her husband's reassurance.

"I know, it's just-" she paused, not knowing whether to finish.

"I'm a _monster_ , Aang. I don't even know how you can look at me."

Tears started to pool in the cerulean depths of her eyes.

"What if they realize that and never let me see you or Bumi ever again? Or what if they don't outlaw it because they don't think it's a big enough risk and people get hurt? It will all be because of me."

Aang cradled her face in his hands.

"First of all, you're not a monster. _You_ were sorry for what you did and that just proves my point. Furthermore, _none_ of this is your fault. You are doing everything you can. And finally, what if they _don't_ do what you said? What if they see you for who you are, the kindest, sweetest, most loving person I know, and they ban bloodbending, saving _dozens_ if not _hundreds_ of people like you did with that Fire Nation village?"

Katara laughed a little, despite the tears running down her face.

"Always the optimist."

Aang grinned slightly and kissed her forehead lovingly.

"Better than worrying about every little thing and stressing yourself out," he replied cheekily.

Katara playfully glared at him as they spent the remainder of the ferry ride in a comfortable silence.

* * *

Upon reaching shore, the young couple leisurely strolled through the city as they made their way across town. They would occasionally stop at an interesting monument, where Aang would proceed to tell Katara all about its significance and history. Finally, after about 20 minutes, they arrived at their destination, Republic City's City Hall.

The two walked in the grand building past the rows of seats and intricate marble columns to see people getting ready for Katara's presentation. For this specific event, the council members had been replaced by their nation's leaders, and the head of the council was Aang, representing both all the nations as a whole and the Air Nomads. This made for 5 members on the temporary council, Chief Hakoda, Chief Arnook, Earth King Kuei, Fire Lord Zuko, and Avatar Aang. In addition to the international leaders, there were also many other important political figures, such as Toph, chief of police, and governors from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation sitting in the audience.

Before reaching the U-shaped table in the front, Aang pulled Katara close and whispered in her ear, "Take deep breaths, Sweetie. I know you'll be _fine_. I love you."

He kissed her cheek and then went to his seat in the middle of the table, smiling encouragingly at her the whole time.

"He's right," Katara thought, breathing deeply, "It'll be fine."

Aang stood up and said loudly, "May I have everyone's attention?"

The whole room went silent.

"Thank you. Now, as you know, we are here today because Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe has brought up an important topic that could threaten the safety of Republic City. She will now inform us about said topic, why it poses a threat, and the reasons why it should be outlawed. Master Katara?" Aang finished, gesturing to her as he sat back down.

Katara took a deep breath, mentally preparing, her seriousness momentarily lost as she saw her brother's over-enthusiastic thumbs up in her peripheral vision.

"The topic I am here to discuss is a form of waterbending call _bloodbending_."

Many of the people present in the audience turned their heads to see if anyone knew exactly what that was.

"Bloodbending is when someone manipulates the water in blood to make another move however they wish."

Many gasps were heard all around the room.

"It was invented by a Southern Waterbender named Hama."

Aang and Sokka both slightly tensed at the name.

"During her stay in a Fire Nation prison..."

A few of the Earth Kingdom nobles looked accusingly at the Fire Nation citizens present.

"Hama was deprived of water. She only was given enough to survive. Due to this, she was forced to be resourceful, and soon learned that every full moon, she could manipulate the prison rats' blood to make their body do what she pleased."

People started whispering to each other more.

Aang stood up once more and declared, "SILENCE!"

The room was quiet once more.

The airbender sat down and nodded at Katara, gesturing for her to continue.

"After many months of practice, Hama was ultimately able to manipulate the guards inside the prison, forcing them to unlock her cage and give her the opportunity to escape."

Katara took another deep breath and continued.

"Hama eventually settled down in a small Fire Nation village, and years later, that was where the Avatar, Councilman Sokka, and myself met her while on our journey around the world."

"But how exactly did you meet her?!" Earth King Kuei interrupted, his eyes darting around nervously as if Hama could come out of hiding at any moment.

"We were out camping when she found and invited us to her inn," Katara answered.

"Now, as I was saying _before I was interrupted_ ," she looked at the Earth King pointedly.

"After we went with Hama to her inn, she told us that she was a Southern Waterbender who had been captured by the Fire Nation."

"The night after, on a full moon, Hama offered to teach me what she called the ultimate form of waterbending."

Katara paused for dramatic suspense.

"Each month, on the full moon, she had been capturing people from the village she lived in and bloodbended them against their will so that they were trapped in the mountain. It was her way of exacting revenge on the Fire Nation."

The whole room gasped, aside from those who knew what happened.

"While the Avatar, Councilman Sokka, and I were with her, Hama used the power from the full moon and bloodbended the Avatar and Councilman Sokka t' other in such a way that they would've killed each other had we not been able to..."

Katara paused, not knowing how much to tell them.

"...had we not been able to stop her in time. We defeated her and arrested her while Chief of Police Toph Beifong rescued the people under the mountain with her earthbending."

"Bloodbending, as you can see, is a vile form of bending that causes an individual to lose control of their body. If it is outlawed, such a catastrophe can be prevented in the future. Thank you."

Katara bowed and took a deep breath knowing it was, for the most part, over.

She caught her father, husband, and brother smiling at her proudly and Katara felt a wave of relief wash over her.

Aang stood up to make an announcement.

"Now, Master Katara will answer any remaining questions to the best of her ability and the world leaders and I will issue a verdict with our evidence."

Katara turned around and faced the audience.

Only one person raised their hand, but this person, as she knew from Aang's description, was a particularly vicious politician who held a grudge against the Avatar and his friends for not serving justice as _he_ deemed fit to the Fire Nation.

Katara internally groaned as she asked, "Noble Yuanhen, what is your question?"

He laughed darkly before asking, "You said that you managed to subdue Hama _while she was bloodbending_. How _exactly_ did you do this?"

Katara faltered for a bit before collecting herself, noticing Aang and Sokka tense visibly.

"I bended at her while her main focus was on the Avatar and my brother," she replied, not entirely lying.

"But what did you bend at her? I would prefer details," Yuanhen said darkly.

Murmurs of agreement were passed around the room.

At this, Sokka stood up.

"Why does it matter? The main focus here is bloodbending."

"Ah," Yuanhen said, "If it doesn't matter, then why can you not give me a straight answer?"

Katara's breath hitched. She was trapped. She couldn't answer the question without making herself out to be exactly what she was fighting against, but in the end, she had to answer one way or another.

Katara took a deep breath.

"I bloodbended Hama."

The audience erupted into chaos, all yelling at her in one way or another about what a hypocrite she was and how she should be put to death for her crimes as Katara burst into tears.

"They're right," she thought, "I _am_ a monster."

Upon seeing his wife crying, Aang couldn't take it anymore. He got up out of his seat and held her in his arms, enraged that these people would suggest such a thing.

"SILENCE!" Sokka yelled.

He went up to the front of the room to address everyone present.

"I'll have you all know that Katara did what she _had_ to. She was _forced_ to learn bloodbending and if she hadn't done what she did, _none_ of us would be here. We would probably all be either dead, because the Avatar had died 9 years ago, or we would still be fighting the Hundred-Year War. If _any_ of you thinks that _that_ is a better alternative than _one_ individual learning bloodbending to only use it _once in her whole life_ , you can leave this room _**right now**_."

No one dared move a muscle. Even Yuanhen was scared out of his wits.

Aang held Katara closer to him as he gave a death glare to everyone in the room that had insulted her.

"Look," he said, "I have _never_ in my _life_ met someone as kindhearted or generous as Katara. She is _not_ the same as Hama, she knew what she did was wrong and cried for _hours_ after the incident. She wouldn't talk to _anyone_ for _days_ because of how guilty and ashamed she felt. I ask you all-"

Aang raised his voice tremendously, "WHAT, I ASK YOU, WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IN THAT KIND OF POSITION?!"

He then lowered his voice, his tone still just as angry as before.

"Would you rather let the world's last hope and your own family _die_? Or use bloodbending _once_ with the right intentions to save them?"

The people who had called Katara names and insulted her ashamedly looked at their feet.

Toph then spoke up.

"Look, I've know Sugar Queen for a while and let me tell you, if there was another way to do it, she would've. Because even at her worst, Sweetness doesn't want to hurt anybody if she can help it. If anyone has _any other_ problems with that, they are facing _**me**_ and can explain exactly why they think they are entitled to have an opinion on something that they don't understand."

The room was filled with a deadly silence before Katara spoke up once more, wiping away the last of her tears.

"Look," she said, her voice weaker and more timid than before, "I did what I did to protect the people I love. And the reason I'm trying to outlaw bloodbending is _not_ so that no one can stand against me-"

Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara all glared at Yuanhen.

"-but is rather so that I'm not forced to teach anyone else this cruel form of bending, and can still know that they will be _safe_."

Katara took on a fierce glare and regarded everyone in the room.

"If you think, even for a second, that wanting to know that my child will actually _come home_ is wrong in any way, shape, or form, _**leave**_."

"I am not answering any more questions, and I do believe that the world leaders have enough information to issue their verdict."

Aang nodded at the other leaders and shouted, "Dismissed!"

* * *

**1 Hour Later**

The world leaders came out of the private room to issue the final verdict.

Aang started, "The council has come to a decision and bloodbending has been declared..."

Everyone held their breath as they went on the edges of their seats, eager to hear the final decision.

"...illegal!"

A collective breath of relief was heard as the room broke out into discussion of how the decision may affect the city.

The Avatar and his wife, however, were caught up in other things as Katara ran up to Aang and kissed him senseless.

Aang grinned as they broke away and pressed their foreheads together.

Katara embraced him tightly, muttering "We did it, we did it, we actually did it," in incredulation.

"Ready to back? We have the rest of the day off..." Aang said in a sing-song voice, his mind going straight into the gutter.

Katara smiled mischievously, knowing exactly what he was thinking about, as she dragged him off.

Needless to say, they were back at Air Temple Island in record time.

* * *

**Late Evening**

Katara yawned as she stripped to nothing and joined Aang in bed.

She lied on top of her husband, skin to skin, as he absent-mindedly ran his fingers through her chocolate-colored locks.

"Did you put him to sleep?" he asked.

She snuggled up against his chest and nodded, "Out like a light. After singing him that lullaby, Bumi went right to sleep."

"Mmm."

"Are you going to say it?" Katara said abruptly.

"Say what?" Aang asked, confused.

Katara rolled her eyes.

"I told you so," she mocked, referring to the day's earlier events.

The young Avatar playfully glared, trying to hold in a laugh at his wife's attempt to imitate him.

"Please," he scoffed, "I'm much too _mature_ for that."

Katara raised an eyebrow.

Aang grinned.

"Well," he started, thoughtfully, "I _did_ tell you..."

The waterbender looked away in embarrassment.

Aang kissed her forehead and told her, "But I won't rub it in. You did good today, Sweetie. I'm proud of you."

Katara smiled, her cheeks tinted red, and kissed him softly.

"I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for standing up for me."

Aang cupped her cheek and nuzzled her.

"Always. I love you so much, my Forever Girl."

"I love you too, Sweetie. Forever and always."


End file.
